Take away the contests of the martyrs, and you have taken away their crowns.
Interpretation
This quote implies that the struggles and sacrifices of individuals give meaning to their achievements and honor.
Saint Ambrose emphasizes the importance of the trials and challenges faced by martyrs in defining their legacy and significance. Without these contests or struggles, their ultimate sacrifices would lack value, and the honor they receive as martyrs would diminish. This highlights a broader philosophical theme: achievements are often intertwined with the hardships faced, giving depth and meaning to the recognition received.
In practice
In a speech honoring veterans, one might invoke this quote to illustrate the significance of their sacrifices.
A good youth ought to have a fear of God, to be subject to his parents, to give honor to his elders, to preserve his purity; he ought not to despise humility, but should love forbearance and modesty. All these are an ornament to youthful years.
Where a man's heart is, there is his treasure also.
The emperor is in the Church, not above the Church.
A kindness received should be returned with a freer hand.
It is ingrained in all living creatures, first of all, to preserve their own safety, to guard against what is harmful, to strive for what is advantageous.
The best way to use the gold of the Redeemer is for the redemption of those in peril.
We are all living in cages with the door wide open.
The will of God is not something you add to your life. Itβs a course you choose. You either line yourself up with the Son of Godβ¦or you capitulate to the principle which governs the rest of the world.
To say that God's sovereignty is limited by man's freedom is to make man sovereign.
No one shall expel us from the paradise that Cantor has created for us.
There is object proof that homosexuality is more interesting than heterosexuality. It's that one knows a considerable number of heterosexuals who would wish to become homosexuals, whereas one knows very few homosexuals who would really like to become heterosexuals.
I mean, knowing people, people are terrified of the unknown and they want to just kill the unknown.
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